Activities in Tasiilaq

Tasiilaq is the largest town in East Greenland and has a beautiful location on the banks of the fjord surrounded by high mountains. Whilst the landscape is good for hikes of shorter or longer duration, the summer is ideal for sailing trips and the winter for dogsled trips.

Examples of activities:

By boat between the icebergs to the settlements
Many large glaciers in the area are very productive in terms of creating icebergs, including those in the Sermilik Fjord, so a sailing trip to one of the six settlements will always be navigated through lots of icebergs. Everyday life in the small settlements is very different to life in the towns. In the settlements the only possible source of income is usually hunting and fishing, as indeed it has been for centuries, but all settlements also have a school, a church and a shop.

Helicopter flights to the Ice Sheet
In a small red Air Greenland helicopter at low altitude over the island of Ammassalik, over the fells and through the valley gorges to the edge of the Ice Sheet. The helicopter lands at a height of 1000 metres (3300 feet) and you will have the chance to look out over the Ice Sheet on one side and the large glaciers on the other. The Sermilik Fjord lies below with its numerous icebergs in all shapes and sizes, and in clear weather you will be able to see the mountain peaks more than 200 km (125 miles) away.

By dogsled over mountains and fjords
The Tasiilaq area is characterised by large amounts of snow in winter and this makes driving a dogsled a different experience here than in North Greenland. While the dogs in North Greenland are harnessed in front of the sled in a fan formation, here they are harnessed in pairs, so that the dogs run in the same tracks. Furthermore, the sleds themselves are very distinctive and specially adapted to the terrain in East Greenland. There are dogsled trips of varying duration, ranging from a couple of hours to several days where overnight accommodation will be in one of the settlements.